Eurogamer - Play Testers Reveal Possible Nudity in New Tomb Raider (APRIL FOOL!)

[adobeARTIST]

Taken from the Eurogamer article, this is kinda surprising;

Tomb Raider, the long running franchise featuring the most recognized female protagonist in video games and the mass media, will for the first time in it’s 14-year history be taking Lara Croft into M Rated territory.

For a series well known for it’s exploration of exotic and foreboding ruins laden with devious traps and ancient evils, the M rating promises to heighten that gaming experience with a much darker atmosphere, more brutal violence, emotional tension, a more tangible sense of mortality from the high risk platforming and other threats Lara must endure, and… nudity?

While still in the early beta stages of development, a team of play testers assigned to put the new physics and animations engine through its paces made an unexpected discovery. One of the innovations being tried out is a Dynamic Cloth Physics engine that enables unscripted tearing of Lara’s clothing, based on the players actions. This is all part of the thematic design in which Lara’s experience on the island will have her subjected to progressive deterioration of her condition, which also includes abrasions, cuts, sweat, grime, and even fraying of her hair.

Although Lara in the past has been viewed as a sex symbol and very endeared to countless gamers, very often ranking high in numerous beauty polls of female gaming character’s, “That is not our intent here with this new feature”, says Greg Tompkins, lead art director at Crystal Dynamics. “We’re trying to present Lara in a very fragile state, where she starts with very little, and must fashion makeshift equipment from her surroundings. Retaining what she has will be increasingly challenging in her struggle to survive the relentless threats (both the environment and natives), resulting in persistent wear & tear, compounded by lack of a supply source to replace what gets damaged or lost.”

Some of the play testers however uncovered startling cloth tearing. Upon learning of this feature, they subjected Lara to thorough punishment, from deliberately slipping while climbing rough walls to running through thick brambles, all in an effort to see how much tear they could induce. Though no actual nudity has been reported, the tattered remains of Lara’s clothing is described to leave very little to the imagination. The full extent of the cloth physics is yet to be ascertained creating a great deal of speculation.

Since the game is still a long way to completion, we can only wonder; will players be able to exploit this or will Crystal Dynamics fine-tune it further, or perhaps scrap the feature altogether, before full release? However this turns out, it seems the ‘nude raider’ mods of the past have become obsolete.

FULL ARTICLE AND PICTURES HERE

[Pulse]

I believed it until I clicked on the link... I am going to be so happy when this day is over.

[chriss99]

The same feature is used in a different Square Enix game entilted The 3rd Birthday.



It looks cool to me.

[a big house]

I hate april....

[LC is Me]

LOL NOW TO SIT BACK AND WAIT

OT: I want 3rd Birthday.
SO. SUPER. BAD.
:l

[Danielsun]

haha adobe you legend,

i say kudos to you my friend

[SE_Cath]

Originally Posted by Pulse

I am going to be so happy when this day is over.

You too, huh ?

[adobeARTIST]

Originally Posted by LC is Me

LOL NOW TO SIT BACK AND WAIT

OT: I want 3rd Birthday.
SO. SUPER. BAD.
:l

I can't believe I never played Parasite Eve when I had a PS1

[LC is Me]

Originally Posted by adobeARTIST

I can't believe I never played Parasite Eve when I had a PS1

Really?
D:

It was such a great series.
It genuinely creeped me out.
This game would be my one and only cause of regret for not owning a PSP.

[Love2Raid]

Hahaha, well done buddy!

[WinterSoldier]

LMAO! VERY clever.

[Lyle Croft]

Originally Posted by adobeARTIST

Taken from the Eurogamer article, this is kinda surprising;

Tomb Raider, the long running franchise featuring the most recognized female protagonist in video games and the mass media, will for the first time in it’s 14-year history be taking Lara Croft into M Rated territory.

For a series well known for it’s exploration of exotic and foreboding ruins laden with devious traps and ancient evils, the M rating promises to heighten that gaming experience with a much darker atmosphere, more brutal violence, emotional tension, a more tangible sense of mortality from the high risk platforming and other threats Lara must endure, and… nudity?

While still in the early beta stages of development, a team of play testers assigned to put the new physics and animations engine through its paces made an unexpected discovery. One of the innovations being tried out is a Dynamic Cloth Physics engine that enables unscripted tearing of Lara’s clothing, based on the players actions. This is all part of the thematic design in which Lara’s experience on the island will have her subjected to progressive deterioration of her condition, which also includes abrasions, cuts, sweat, grime, and even fraying of her hair.

Although Lara in the past has been viewed as a sex symbol and very endeared to countless gamers, very often ranking high in numerous beauty polls of female gaming character’s, “That is not our intent here with this new feature”, says Greg Tompkins, lead art director at Crystal Dynamics. “We’re trying to present Lara in a very fragile state, where she starts with very little, and must fashion makeshift equipment from her surroundings. Retaining what she has will be increasingly challenging in her struggle to survive the relentless threats (both the environment and natives), resulting in persistent wear & tear, compounded by lack of a supply source to replace what gets damaged or lost.”

Some of the play testers however uncovered startling cloth tearing. Upon learning of this feature, they subjected Lara to thorough punishment, from deliberately slipping while climbing rough walls to running through thick brambles, all in an effort to see how much tear they could induce. Though no actual nudity has been reported, the tattered remains of Lara’s clothing is described to leave very little to the imagination. The full extent of the cloth physics is yet to be ascertained creating a great deal of speculation.

Since the game is still a long way to completion, we can only wonder; will players be able to exploit this or will Crystal Dynamics fine-tune it further, or perhaps scrap the feature altogether, before full release? However this turns out, it seems the ‘nude raider’ mods of the past have become obsolete.

FULL ARTICLE AND PICTURES HERE

April fools haha i knew it? but imagine if it was real well just imagine what sickos will do to Lara and put on youtube(trust me i've seen people put a video of underworld lara tyring to go see whats in her body by putting the camera above laras head) haha better not ruin teh joke but this looks like a new wallpaper for me...

[adobeARTIST]

Thank you everybody, you've been a terrific audience.



And looking forward to next year.

[Driber]

When I read your part about the game engine being able to tear off pieces of clothing, I knew it was an April Fool's joke

But perhaps my senses were more on alert as we've been busy playing out our own annual forum April Fool's joke

Nice story you've put together, though

[adobeARTIST]

Originally Posted by Driber

When I read your part about the game engine being able to tear off pieces of clothing, I knew it was an April Fool's joke

But perhaps my senses were more on alert as we've been busy playing out our own annual forum April Fool's joke

Nice story you've put together, though

oooo, ooooo, what was yours and where was it?

[aragorn2]

Hahaha nice joke, for one moment i believed it

[Driber]

Originally Posted by adobeARTIST

oooo, ooooo, what was yours and where was it?

Ours was a fake announcement that all off topic forums and threads will be closed.

It was happening in several forums at the same time. But the joke best caught on in the Deus Ex forum where the members really bought it, thanks to my colleague MyImmortal's excellent acting skills

It starts from this post: http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthr...35#post1593035

[Pulse]

Not wanting to go too off topic, but they did officially announce her clothes could tear right? I'd be for that if it didn't approach the ridiculousness of Third Birthday (which otherwise looks like an awesome game)







err.... yeah.

[WinterSoldier]

@Pulse Whoa I hadn't heard that about Third Birthday. That's, um, interesting. Meh, it's Parasite Eve, so it'll be good. Better be, anyways.

By the way, Adobe, top job on the article you typed up itself. Seemed very professional to me. You actually a writer by chance?

[adobeARTIST]

Originally Posted by WinterSoldier

@Pulse Whoa I hadn't heard that about Third Birthday. That's, um, interesting. Meh, it's Parasite Eve, so it'll be good. Better be, anyways.

By the way, Adobe, top job on the article you typed up itself. Seemed very professional to me. You actually a writer by chance?

By actual profession. No, not at all. At best I can say I dabbled in it, having contributed 3 or 4 articles to an e-zine on a different forum. In any case, my sincerest thanks, you are too kind

This experiment did get me genuinely curious to know who would actually want to see this feature in the game. I would like to add a poll, though now it's too late as the OP is already made.

And 3rd Bday is coming as a PSP game? That's kind of a pity, would have been real cool to see a full next gen instalment of the Parasite Eve series. Not to mention Aya Brae in HD

[Driber]

I could add a poll here, although this thread has already gone in a different direction. So why not just start a new? I'd also be interested to hear if many people wish for a clothes tearing feature

[SE_Cath]

Poll sounds like a great idea BTW the last pic of 3rd Birthday is absolutely ridiculous indeed XD

[Natla]

I'd vote for it.